1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to detergent compostions containing fatty acid cyanamides, useful for cleaning hard surfaces.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Acylcyanamides, particularly fatty acid cyanamides, and their suitability as soap-like wetting agents and dispersants have been known since the thirties. Thus, German Patent No. 708,428 and British Patent No. 428,091 describe the production of acylcyanamides and a process for treating textiles therewith.
In the development of modern cleaners for hard (especially non-porous) surfaces, use is made of the improvement in effectiveness produced by certain surfactant mixtures and surfactant/polymer mixtures as compared to the respective individual components. In this way, it is possible to combine high cleaning power with careful surface treatment and high skin compatibility, because the expected cleaning effect can be obtained with low concentrations and without any need to use strongly alkaline or strongly acidic additives. Thus, a mixture of a synthetic anionic sulfonate surfactant, for example alkyl benzene sulfonate, and a synthetic anionic sulfate surfactant, for example a fatty alcohol polyglycol ether sulfate, is used as a synergistically active surfactant component in dishwashing compositions. Combinations of nonionic surfactants and synthetic anionic surfactants, for example a combination of ethoxylated diols and alkyl benzene sulfonate or alkane sulfonate have also been described as the active constituents of cleaning preparations in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,062. A further improvement in effect is obtained by the addition of certain water-soluble polymers from the group comprising polyethylene glycols, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinyl pyrrolidones, cellulose ethers, polysaccharides, proteins and polyacrylamides, to cleaning preparations based on nonionic and/or anionic synthetic surfactants, even small additions of polymers producing a significant improvement in effect (see German Patent Application Nos. 28 40 463 and 29 13 049).